Many of my clients are concerned that they are short of hay this winter. I have put together a little summary to help if you need to ration your hay this winter.
Our horses would naturally eat 1.5-2% of their body weight (10kg for a 500kg horse) in long fibre (hay or grass)per day.
However for health and maintenance of the teeth and gastro intestinal tract, our horses can cope with 1%. 1% would be 5Kg for a 500kg horse which equates to 2.5-3 slices of a normal bale of hay. Weighing it is a great idea so that you can be sure to meet this very MINIMUM requirement.
If you do need do reduce hay intake temporarily, you MUST replace the rest of their dietary requirements in the short term until we have some grass to graze or access to more hay.
For a 500kg horse we are looking at replacing 3-5Kg dry weight of fibre.
Replacement fibre sources for your hay in the short term:
Chaff (but be mindful it doesnt weigh very much)
Haylage products such as fibre fresh range
Then additional fibre can be found in:
Speedybeet
Maxisoy
Fibre pellets
And many other options.
Always monitor for weight loss or weight gain when replacing your hay with alternative sources.
Other hard feed options are suitable for replacing some of the hay, however please remember most feeds you buy in a bag from the store have very minimal fibre content.
Good luck with your hay hunting 🥰